Performance Measures for Prosecutors: Findings from the Application of Performance Measures...

Abstract

How is success measured in prosecution? Is it conviction rates, the outcome of a single high profile case, a low number of plea bargains, or less crime? What information can prosecutors use to justify funding requests, respond to vague criticism of office performance, or to make management decisions? Until recently, prosecutors lacked any empirically-based guidance that adequately addressed the need for a menu of performance measures that can be used to answer these questions. In 2003, with funding from the National Institute of Justice and the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI), the research and development division of the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA), began to tackle this issue by convening a group of experienced prosecutors, policymakers, economists, and academics to develop a performance measurement framework for prosecutors. (palabras claves: ministerio público, tasas de convicción, criterio de desempeño)